Mary decided that being a mermaid isn't much fun if she can't even swim. She had to change back to a human now, maybe drive out to the lake, or call up one of her pool-owning friends. But before she could do any of that, she had to actually reach the vials.
Mary had left the box sitting on a table on the other side of the house, and her new body certainly wasn't fit for land travel. Still, she had no other choice. She popped the cap on the drain, hearing the suction as the tub's water level slowly descended. With a splash, she hoisted her body over the edge and flopped onto the floor. Her wet body squeaked as she crawled with her arms on the tiles.
When she got into the hall, however, it was a different story. She hadn't traveled halfway to her destination before her body dried on the carpet. Now her tail felt hot and irritated. Her scales started to stiffen and her gills gasped for water amid the dry air.
After a great deal of effort, Mary made it into the room. Now that she had more space, she was able to lessen the strain on her body by shifting to her side and rolling the rest of the way to the table. She heard her tail-fin knock over a few picture frames on a passing end table, but she didn't have time to worry about that.
She crawled up a chair to lean against as she extended a webbed hand toward the box. Her dry mouth panting, she pulled it into her arms and collapsed onto the floor. She found the vial with a human picture on it and gulped the entire thing. The thick liquid was refreshing to her parched throat.
Before long, her scales softened and melted into human skin and all her fins had shrank into nothing. Her hair shortened to her waist and returned to its original color. She noticed that all down her front she had developed serious rug burn. It was even on her human legs. But, she thought, at least she didn't start crumbling apart due to lack of water.
As she thought about where to go to fulfill her mermaid fantasy, she glanced over the vials once again. Her eyes fell upon one particular vial that gave her a new idea.